The Politics Thread

[Harry Genshaw]

I'm with Clapton on this. After giving it a lot of thought I decided I dont want a Police commissioner. It's a poor sort of democracy that gives me a choice in an election I dont want. Were Police commissions part of any of the main party manifestos?

Best way to register my protest is not to turn up, but its not an option I've ever chosen before and it does weigh heavily

As far as I'm concerned not turning up doesn't get registered as a protest vote, Harry, it means simply one more member of an apathetic electorate. The best way to protest is to care enough to turn up and deliberately spoil the ballot. In my opinion of course.

I get the apathy bit Monty but whenever I see the number of spoiled papers in an election I don't think "Oh they were protesting" I just assume they were too thick to know how to fill the ballot paper in.

[Montreal Wanderer]

I'm with Clapton on this. After giving it a lot of thought I decided I dont want a Police commissioner. It's a poor sort of democracy that gives me a choice in an election I dont want. Were Police commissions part of any of the main party manifestos?

Best way to register my protest is not to turn up, but its not an option I've ever chosen before and it does weigh heavily

As far as I'm concerned not turning up doesn't get registered as a protest vote, Harry, it means simply one more member of an apathetic electorate. The best way to protest is to care enough to turn up and deliberately spoil the ballot. In my opinion of course.

I get the apathy bit Monty but whenever I see the number of spoiled papers in an election I don't think "Oh they were protesting" I just assume they were too thick to know how to fill the ballot paper in.

I suppose some people do spoil their ballot through stupidity, but others do it deliberately. Those who stay away are giving up on a privilege that was hard won once and they forfeit the right to criticize the result. The other way I protest would be to vote for a party who have no chance of getting in - I have voted for the Green Party and for the Marijuana Party in the past - but this would not work with a police commissioner I suppose..

[Harry Genshaw]

It would be an interesting Police Commissioner who was from the Marijuana party

I wont be criticizing the result whatever it is. I'm critical of the change that has prompted the election

[Little Green Man]

Nope, not yet, still in little old Lancashire. As I say, I haven't had anything about voting, so if it is happening no-one thought to ask me!

You've been disenfranchised. I'd have a word about that with your new Crime Commisioner (next week) - maybe somebody's nicked your vote.

It's no laughing matter, there's a lot of it about.

Fortunately we've not got these elections up here. If I was south of the border I wouldn't be voting (for what would be the first time, unless you count the occasion I was disenfranchised in 2010) .

[Montreal Wanderer]

It would be an interesting Police Commissioner who was from the Marijuana party

I wont be criticizing the result whatever it is. I'm critical of the change that has prompted the election

Our Marijuana Party do take themselves quite seriously and probably have supporters in law enforcement.

Our Rhinoceros Party take themselves less seriously and their election promise is not to keep any of their other promises. Their platforms have included items such as:

Repealing the law of gravity
Providing higher education by building taller schools
Instituting English, French and illiteracy as Canada's three official languages
Making Montreal the Venice of North America by damming the St. Lawrence River
Abolishing the environment because it's too hard to keep clean and it takes up so much space
Ending crime by abolishing all laws
Adopting the British system of driving on the left; this was to be gradually phased in over five years with large trucks and tractors first, then buses, eventually including small cars and bicycles last

[Lord Kangana]

I'm fascinated that a party committed to reducing the state has invented a new chocolate box bureaucratic position.

Perhaps we could file this under "I want the state to have less say in our lives unless some gays are getting married or some woman wants an abortion" principle of hypocrisy?

[Prufrock]

There was a bloke in tonight who is a political activist sort. He mentioned they haven't sent out any forms or owt due to cost. I don't know who any of them are, or even where to vote. I don't think I'll bother. I think voting is important, but a)I don't think the police should be politicised and apparently most of the candidates are from political parties, and b) what the feck does a police commissioner even do? We're hardly likely to get Commissioner Gordon are we?!

[Lost Leopard Spot]

I've got a ballot paper... it's same as always with date and voter number and everything else as normal

[thebish]

There was a bloke in tonight who is a political activist sort. He mentioned they haven't sent out any forms or owt due to cost. I don't know who any of them are, or even where to vote. I don't think I'll bother. I think voting is important, but a)I don't think the police should be politicised and apparently most of the candidates are from political parties, and b) what the feck does a police commissioner even do? We're hardly likely to get Commissioner Gordon are we?!

I think you'll find that you can vote in pretty much all the places where you normally vote. They will have big signs outside saying "Polling Station".

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

So now we have select committees telling multinationals that their tax arrangements are 'not illegal but immoral'.

I'm just going repeat my usual line and say how unhelpful and meaningless talk of 'morality' is here. It's intellectually lazy and an abdication of the responsibility we have collectively to think about what levels of tax are a good idea and why, and how we can cooperate with other countries to address the complexities of making sure multinationals pay the tax on profits that host governments deem to be appropriate.

In the mean time, an idea that I have been pushing since about 2009 is gaining some currency - the idea of awarding companies a badge (like the traffic light system or 'GM free' on food, say) to show that they are exemplary, gold standard tax payers, so that consumers can decide if this is something they value.

[thebish]

So now we have select committees telling multinationals that their tax arrangements are 'not illegal but immoral'.

indeed - what a monumental waste of time that was... utterly... redicuhoulose...

[Worthy4England]

So now we have select committees telling multinationals that their tax arrangements are 'not illegal but immoral'.

I'm just going repeat my usual line and say how unhelpful and meaningless talk of 'morality' is here. It's intellectually lazy and an abdication of the responsibility we have collectively to think about what levels of tax are a good idea and why, and how we can cooperate with other countries to address the complexities of making sure multinationals pay the tax on profits that host governments deem to be appropriate.

In the mean time, an idea that I have been pushing since about 2009 is gaining some currency - the idea of awarding companies a badge (like the traffic light system or 'GM free' on food, say) to show that they are exemplary, gold standard tax payers, so that consumers can decide if this is something they value.

It's fecking bizarre.

MP's find loopholes in expenses policy and it's "just following the rules"

Corp's find loopholes in the tax legislation and it's "immoral"

I'm no defender of Corps finding the loopholes to evade tax, but maybe if the MP's stopped tw@tting about name calling and actually closed some of the loopholes that the "immorality" is a product of, we'd be getting better value for money out of the clueless fcukwits.

[Harry Genshaw]

So now we have select committees telling multinationals that their tax arrangements are 'not illegal but immoral'.

indeed - what a monumental waste of time that was... utterly... redicuhoulose...

Agreed, but I still enjoyed the replay of Patricia Hodge(?) tearing the bloke from Amazon a new one when he tried to wriggle off the hook with his business rates argument.

[Prufrock]

Some tool from Deloitte was on the radio the other day saying the reason Starbucks paid no tax is because it keeps making massive losses because the real estate is so expensive. Even Lisa Tarbuck saw through that one!

[thebish]

Some tool from Deloitte was on the radio the other day saying the reason Starbucks paid no tax is because it keeps making massive losses because the real estate is so expensive. Even Lisa Tarbuck saw through that one!

and she's an anagram of Starbucks... (well - nearly!!)

[Prufrock]

Some tool from Deloitte was on the radio the other day saying the reason Starbucks paid no tax is because it keeps making massive losses because the real estate is so expensive. Even Lisa Tarbuck saw through that one!

and she's an anagram of Starbucks... (well - nearly!!)

One R and one S and we'd have Liar Starbucks!

Nearlygrams!

[thebish]

one polling station in Newport received NO VOTES at all - not even spoiled ones - a ZERO turnout... I think that's a first...

[Lost Leopard Spot]

one polling station in Newport received NO VOTES at all - not even spoiled ones - a ZERO turnout... I think that's a first...

Now that's what I call proper democracy.
You'd never get that in Zimbabwe or Russia, in those places you're lucky if the turnout is as low as 175%

[Lord Kangana]

So no-one wants them, no-one can even be arsed to say they don't want them.

Keep rearranging those deckchairs, I'm off to give a request to the band.

[thebish]

So no-one wants them, no-one can even be arsed to say they don't want them.

Keep rearranging those deckchairs, I'm off to give a request to the band.

would that request be - SHUT UP!!!